


Explain The Currents, As I Just Smile

by killingmonsterswritingthings



Series: 10 Days of LawLu 2017 [10]
Category: One Piece
Genre: (super minor honestly nothing to worry about), 10 days of LawLu, Fluff, Future Fic, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Luffy Is Pirate King, M/M, Minor Character Death, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 20:43:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11112489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killingmonsterswritingthings/pseuds/killingmonsterswritingthings
Summary: Decades after Luffy found the One Piece, Law is still with him.





	Explain The Currents, As I Just Smile

**Author's Note:**

> once again we've reached the end of 10 days of lawlu :'(
> 
> written for the 10th prompt of 10 days of lawlu, June 6 - T is for... **Time**
> 
> happy lawlu day!!

 

Time had been kind to Luffy, and he knew it.

Despite the years he had lost in Impel Down, and the months  and months his life as a pirate must have shaved off his life span, he was still fortunate enough to see his hair go  slowly  grey. There were no executions  to end his life and no illness to cut it short .

He had never seen himself as the kind of person who would retire one day. He would find his end on the sea.  The ocean had been his home for longer now than  Dawn Island ever had been. The Thousand Sunny was where he belonged.

It was a little weird, because he could have seen everyone else doing that. Settling down. Retiring on small or big islands. Sanji should have opened that restaurant. Franky should have been allowed to return to Water 7. Robin should have finally been able to end her long years of running, and never having a home.

But they were all still there with him.

  


  


He was standing at the bow of the Sunny – now an old ship,  and he was proud she had made it that far – and was contemplating climbing up onto the figurehead, when Law stepped up next to him.

The Heart Pirates had disbanded years ago, gone their separate ways, but Law had stayed with Luffy, even though Bepo had offered him a calm, safe life on Zou. For a while Law had considered rebuilding Flevance, but finally given up on the idea when they had visited his former home. It had been too painful.

So he had kept traveling with them.

  


“Any thoughts on where we’re going now?” Law asked. His hair had gone almost gone completely grey by now, and Luffy loved touching it, loved reminding himself how many years Law had spent with him.

Luffy shrugged and grinned. “Into the sunset for now. Then tomorrow we’ll see.”

“I liked you better when you had a plan,” Law said drily, and Luffy could clearly hear that it was a joke. He laughed.

“I never had a solid plan beyond ‘becoming Pirate King’,” he said.

They watched the waves and the sunset in silence for a while, and Luffy tried to remember who had first watch. Was it Usopp? It probably was.

“Maybe we should go back to Alabasta,” Luffy said then, leaning on the railing now, “and give Nami a chance to meet with Vivi again.”

Luffy knew that Law had only been to Alabasta once, briefly, and wanted to give him the opportunity to get to know the country as well as he did. He had been there together with Nami more often than he could count by now. Her relationship with Vivi – who had been queen for nearly three decades now – was no secret, although the navy ignored it for the most part. Being the strongest pirates on the seas had its perks.

“That’d be nice,” Law said.

“I’ll talk to Nami about it in the morning then.”

But for now they would just watch the sea. Nothing was set in stone, and there was nothing to do.

  


Luffy had never wanted to become like Whitebeard, and he was glad he had not.

He was technically a Yonko, but he didn’t run any of the big enterprises Big Mom or Doflamingo had, he didn’t have the big fleet Whitebeard had had, and he sure as hell wasn’t the cliché that Blackbeard had become  (and not ceased to be with his death) . He was probably still closest to Shanks’ style of piracy, and he remembered his former mentor fondly.

The thought of Shanks made him touch his hat subconsciously and adjust it on his head.

He had eventually given the hat back to him, but Shanks had only kept it for another couple years before he died. Then Ben had returned the hat to Luffy, and Luffy hat started wearing it once more. He guessed the hat was truly his now, and it was probably better that way. Shanks  _had_ said that wearing it didn’t feel right anymore – he wasn’t Straw Hat Luffy.

Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy. Sometimes he forgot he was carrying that title now.

No one reigned over the seas, and he wouldn’t presume to pretend he did. He had people loyal to him, and people who loved him all over the world – as well as people who hated him. Just as any other person.

But still people came to him to handle disputes, or for protection for their islands, or for advice.

  


“What are you thinking about?” Law asked.

Luffy shrugged. “The present. The past.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “That’s rare for you.”

“Getting more common now,” Luffy said and grinned. “I’m getting old, remember?”

“You’re not _that_ old yet,” Law scoffed. Luffy laughed, because it wasn’t true – he was older than he ever thought he would be, and he knew Law was the same.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” he asked, straightening up. “That we made it this far.”

“I ask myself how you did it every day,” Law said. “Fate, maybe? Luck, probably. Your friends… most definitely.”

Luffy laughed and bumped their shoulders together. “And my allies.”

“I can’t believe you still like to call me that.”

“Well,” Luffy said and once again considered climbing up onto the lion’s head. His knees could still manage it. “You are everything to me after all. Ally, friend, lover.” He heard Law gasp beside him and grinned at him. “Still surprised?”

“It just never gets old.” Law snuck an arm around his shoulder and pressed a kiss to Luffy’s temple.

“Good, because you’ll be stuck with me for another while, hopefully,” Luffy said.

Law hummed in hopeful agreement and Luffy could see him smiling. It was a sight that had become more frequent – a joyful, happy smile, not the spiteful, aggressive grins he had been sporting when Luffy had first met him. It was a good look on him.

Luffy leaned against him and breathed in the smell of the night mixed with Law’s cologne.

There was no rush to go to bed. No rush to do anything. They could just enjoy the cool night air, and the stars glimmering in the sky.

Law had his arm around Luffy, and Luffy was calm.

  


 

**Author's Note:**

> it's been so much fun participating again, and i thought this was perfect to end the 10 days on (and a bit of a mirror of the first fic)  
> i could have gone the tragic road with this, because we all know luffy isn't meant to grow old, but hey, i enjoy some good old-fashioned happy endings and fluff once in a while. i also really enjoyed writing an older luffy. what do you think?
> 
> title from malibu by miley cyrus, inspired by [this beautiful cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYsI3Zma6uQ) by sam tsui.
> 
> come visit me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/luffylaws) and [tumblr](https://leiathelight.tumblr.com), or leave me a comment!


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